Earlier this year, Mitt Romney nearly landed in a politically perilous controversy when the Huffington Post reported that in 1999 the GOP presidential candidate had been part of an investment group that invested $75 million in Stericycle, a medical-waste disposal firm that has been attacked by anti-abortion groups for disposing aborted fetuses collected from family planning clinics. Coming during the heat of the GOP primaries, as Romney tried to sell South Carolina Republicans on his pro-life bona fides, the revelation had the potential to damage the candidate's reputation among values voters already suspicious of his shifting position on abortion.

But Bain Capital, the private equity firm Romney founded, tamped down the controversy. The company said Romney left the firm in February 1999 to run the troubled 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City and likely had nothing to with the deal. The matter never became a campaign issue. But documents filed by Bain and Stericycle with the Securities and Exchange Commission—and obtained by Mother Jones—list Romney as an active participant in the investment. And this deal helped Stericycle, a company with a poor safety record, grow, while yielding tens of millions of dollars in profits for Romney and his partners. The documents—one of which was signed by Romney—also contradict the official account of Romney's exit from Bain.

The Stericycle deal—the abortion connection aside—is relevant because of questions regarding the timing of Romney's departure from the private equity firm he founded. Responding to a recent Washington Post story reporting that Bain-acquired companies outsourced jobs, the Romney campaign insisted that Romney exited Bain in February 1999, a month or more before Bain took over two of the companies named in the Post's article. The SEC documents undercut that defense, indicating that Romney still played a role in Bain investments until at least the end of 1999.

Here's what happened with Stericycle. In November 1999, Bain Capital and Madison Dearborn Partners, a Chicago-based private equity firm, filed with the SEC a Schedule 13D, which lists owners of publicly traded companies, noting that they had jointly purchased $75 million worth of shares in Stericycle, a fast-growing player in the medical-waste industry. (That April, Stericycle had announced plans to buy the medical-waste businesses of Browning Ferris Industries and Allied Waste Industries.) The SEC filing lists assorted Bain-related entities that were part of the deal, including Bain Capital (BCI), Bain Capital Partners VI (BCP VI), Sankaty High Yield Asset Investors (a Bermuda-based Bain affiliate), and Brookside Capital Investors (a Bain offshoot). And it notes that Romney was the "sole shareholder, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President of BCI, BCP VI Inc., Brookside Inc. and Sankaty Ltd."

The document also states that Romney "may be deemed to share voting and dispositive power with respect to" 2,116,588 shares of common stock in Stericycle "in his capacity as sole shareholder" of the Bain entities that invested in the company. That was about 11 percent of the outstanding shares of common stock. (The whole $75 million investment won Bain, Romney, and their partners 22.64 percent of the firm's stock—the largest bloc among the firm's owners.) The original copy of the filing was signed by Romney.

Another SEC document filed November 30, 1999, by Stericycle also names Romney as an individual who holds "voting and dispositive power" with respect to the stock owned by Bain. If Romney had fully retired from the private equity firm he founded, why would he be the only Bain executive named as the person in control of this large amount of Stericycle stock?

The documents—one of which was signed by Romney—also call into question the account of Romney's exit from Bain that the company and the Romney campaign have provided.

Stericycle was a lucrative investment for Romney and Bain. The company had entered the medical-waste business a decade earlier, when it took over a food irradiation plant in Arkansas and began zapping medical waste, rather than strawberries, with radiation. The company subsequently replaced irradiation with a technology that used low-frequency radio waves to sterilize medical waste—gowns, masks, gloves, and other medical equipment—before it was transported to an incinerator. By mid-1997, Stericycle was the second-largest medical-waste disposal business in the nation. Two years later, it was the largest. With 240,000 customers, its operations spanned the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. Fortune ranked it No. 10 on its list of the 100 fastest growing companies in the nation.

But the company had its woes, accumulating a troubling safety record along the way. In 1991, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited its Arkansas operation for 11 workplace safety violations. The facility had not provided employees with sufficient protective gear, and it had kept body parts, fetuses, and dead experimental animals in unmarked storage containers, placing workers at risk. In 1995, Stericycle was fined $3.3 million—later decreased to $800,000—by Rhode Island for knowingly exposing workers to life-threatening diseases at its medical-waste treatment facility in Woonsocket. Two years later, workers at another of its medical-waste processing plants in Morton, Washington, were exposed to tuberculosis. In 2002 and 2003—after Bain and its partners had bought their major interest in the firm—Stericycle reached settlements with the attorneys general in Arizona and Utah after it was accused of violating antitrust laws. It paid Arizona $320,000 in civil penalties and lawyers' fees, and paid Utah $580,000.

Despite the firm's regulatory run-ins, the deal worked out well for Bain. In 2001, the Bain-Madison Dearborn partnership that had invested in the company sold 40 percent of its holdings in Stericycle for about $88 million—marking a hefty profit on its original investment of $75 million. The Bain-related group sold the rest of its holdings by 2004. By that point it had earned $49.5 million. It was not until six years later that anti-abortion activists would target Stericycle for collecting medical waste at abortion clinics. This campaign has compared Stericycle to German firms that provided assistance to the Nazis during the Holocaust. A Stericycle official told Huffington Post that its abortion clinics business constitutes a "small" portion of its total operations. (Stericycle declined a request for comment from Mother Jones.)

In response to questions from Mother Jones, a spokeswoman for Bain maintained that Romney was not involved in the Stericycle deal in 1999, saying that he had "resigned" months before the stock purchase was negotiated. The spokeswoman noted that following his resignation Romney remained only "a signatory on certain documents," until his separation agreement with Bain was finalized in 2002. And Bain issued this statement: "Mitt Romney retired from Bain Capital in February 1999. He has had no involvement in the management or investment activities of Bain Capital, or with any of its portfolio companies since that time." (The Romney presidential campaign did not respond to requests for comment.)

But the document Romney signed related to the Stericycle deal did identify him as a participant in that particular deal and the person in charge of several Bain entities. (Did Bain and Romney file a document with the SEC that was not accurate?) Moreover, in 1999, Bain and Romney both described his departure from Bain not as a resignation and far from absolute. On February 12, 1999, the Boston Herald reported, "Romney said he will stay on as a part-timer with Bain, providing input on investment and key personnel decisions." And a Bain press release issued on July 19, 1999, noted that Romney was "currently on a part-time leave of absence"—and quoted Romney speaking for Bain Capital. In 2001 and 2002, Romney filed Massachusetts state disclosure forms noting he was the 100 percent owner of Bain Capital NY, Inc.—a Bain outfit that was incorporated in Delaware on April 13, 1999—two months after Romney's supposed retirement from the firm. A May 2001 filing with the SEC identified Romney as "a member of the Management Committee" of two Bain entities. And in 2007, the Washington Post reported that R. Bradford Malt, a Bain lawyer, said Romney took a "leave of absence" when he assumed the Olympics post and retained sole ownership of the firm for two more years.

All of this undermines Bain's contention that Romney, though he maintained an ownership interest in the firm and its funds, had nothing to do with the firm's activities after February 1999. The Stericycle deal may raise red flags for anti-abortion activists. But it also raises questions about the true timing of Romney's departure from Bain and casts doubt on claims by the company and the Romney campaign that he had nothing to do with Bain business after February 1999.

Jack Davenport

2012-07-02, 20:59

Sounds like it was around the time that Romney held a pro-choice stance.

Move along, nothing to see here.

Mayhem

2012-07-02, 21:20

Wait a minute....Mormons are allowed to be pro-choice, change their mind and then run for President? Is that how it works?

Obama changes his mind about gay marriage and it's all about the politics, but Romney can change his mind about abortion and there's nothing to see here?

Please explain, I'm truly fascinated.

Jack Davenport

2012-07-02, 22:22

Please explain how I have ever said anything about Obama changing his stance. Don't really care nor do I care that Romney invested in this company.

Mayhem

2012-07-02, 23:59

Dude, get over yourself. I'm talking about what's in the news. But seriously, get the fuck over yourself.

Will E Worm

2012-07-03, 01:13

Get over yourself. :tongue:

I will go with he did not know they did this.

You have no proof he did.

So, move along nothing to see here. Just another sensational liberal story from Huff post.

Mayhem

2012-07-03, 01:23

Check the source Sherlock. And the proof is right there in the story.

Master Roshi

2012-07-03, 06:14

Willard SMH the same jackass who helped to write Romneycare for Massachusetts which is essentially the same as Obamacare

BlueBalls

2012-07-03, 09:48

Morality doesn't exist in capitalism, bro. :tongue:

PirateKing

2012-07-03, 10:23

There's one thing Romney will never flip on, and that's greed.

lurkingdirk

2012-07-03, 10:23

Get over yourself. :tongue:

I will go with he did not know they did this.

You have no proof he did.

So, move along nothing to see here. Just another sensational liberal story from Huff post.

So, he's allowed to invest in, support, and spend huge dollars on it, but has no obligation to know what they are doing?

Three years is a long time to finalize a retirement. I'm not sure what it means in relation to the campaign, though.

BlueBalls

2012-07-04, 08:44

Yes. :tongue:

:facepalm:

vodkazvictim

2012-07-04, 13:23

Wait - a hypocritical politician?! What will they discover next, a Unicorn?!

lurkingdirk

2012-07-04, 13:27

:facepalm:

:troll:

BlueBalls

2012-07-04, 13:28

:troll:

:troll:

lurkingdirk

2012-07-04, 14:19

:troll:

BlueBalls :facepalm:

:troll:

BlueBalls

2012-07-04, 14:40

BlueBalls :facepalm:

:troll:

Reported :nono:

:tongue:

lurkingdirk

2012-07-04, 14:51

Reported :nono:

:tongue:

You did not report me. Watch this highly relevant video from a spurious source. :tongue:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tENulMDtdtw

Mayhem

2012-07-04, 17:54

No. :nono:

Yes. :tongue:

:facepalm:

:troll:

:troll:

BlueBalls :facepalm:

:troll:

Reported :nono:

:tongue:

You did not report me. Watch this highly relevant video from a spurious source. :tongue:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tENulMDtdtw

Guys? Do I pull this shit on your threads? No. And I would remind you that it was the rest of you that wanted Politics in its own separate section...and you got your wish. So how about swapping spit with each other back out in general population?

Will E Worm

2012-07-04, 17:59

Guys? Do I pull this shit on your threads? No. And I would remind you that it was the rest of you that wanted Politics in its own separate section...and you got your wish. So how about swapping spit with each other back out in general population?

I agree. All they do is troll.

They need to learn to agree to disagree and ignore people.
Finding another site that is more to their character would be great as well.

lurkingdirk

2012-07-04, 22:43

I agree. All they do is troll.

They need to learn to agree to disagree and ignore people.
Finding another site that is more to their character would be great as well.

Actually, what we generally do is ask relevant questions in your threads, and you're incapable of answering. I think it is because you're stupid, but I could be wrong. You might be retarded.

To the OP: sorry. Got carried away. I'll be more respectful of your threads in the future. You make good threads.

Mayhem

2012-07-04, 23:47

To the OP: sorry. Got carried away. I'll be more respectful of your threads in the future. You make good threads.

Thank You. :hatsoff:

Will E Worm

2012-07-05, 01:58

Actually, what we generally do is ask relevant questions in your threads, and you're incapable of answering. I think it is because you're stupid, but I could be wrong. You might be retarded.

To the OP: sorry. Got carried away. I'll be more respectful of your threads in the future. You make good threads.

Stop trolling. :facepalm: You wanted separate areas. You do not belong here.

lurkingdirk

2012-07-05, 02:27

Stop trolling. :facepalm: You wanted separate areas. You do not belong here.

Answer the questions or stfu.

Will E Worm

2012-07-05, 02:47

Answer the questions or stfu.

Still messing up his thread? :facepalm: I do not answer trolls.
Sam or anyone could give you mountains of information. You would just laugh it off after not even looking at it.

Sam ran you off once. Maybe it is time for him to do it once again? :tongue:

Bloodshot Scott

2012-07-05, 20:28

Romney the RINO:

Fmr. Gov. Mitt Romney

In case you missed the lead story yesterday, likely because you were following the Weiner Saga, Mitt Romney is running for President. Though he had a hard time defeating Huckabee last timeand whom he seems to have an ongoing feud with, Romney seems to be thinking that all the major issues that plauged his last candidacy have evaporated and the only real issue the Conservative Republican base has with him is RomneyCare. This could not be further from the truth. The list of Romney’s problems is a long one, so buckle up.First, some in the Conservative Intellectual Elite, *cough* Krauthammer *cough*, have taken upon themselves the mantle of Republican priests, and have absolved Mitt of his past Liberal sins, with the exception of the unpardonable sin of RomneyCare. However, even the American Spectator is forced to at least admit in a puff piece on Romney his Liberal positions in the 2008 Presidential Primary, which became apparent due to his flip flopping on central Conservative issues.In 2008, Romney earned himself a reputation as a flip-flopper as he dramatically attempted to reshape himself as a stanch conservative despite having previously staked out liberal positions on abortion, guns, immigration and a litany of other issues.However, the American Spectator’s analysis of Romney pales in comparison to the Wall Street Journal’s departure from usual Republican Establishment backslapping (though John O’Sullivan did give Palin a strong defense and the journal sometimes swerves into other corners of truth). In what both our President and winos refer to as a moment of clarity, the Wall Street Journal’s editorial provides what amounts to be the most damning indictment of the Romney candidacy:The problem is not that Mr. Romney is willing to reconsider his former thinking. Nor is it so much that his apparent convictions always seem in sync with the audience to which he is speaking at the moment. … Plenty of politicians attune their positions to new constituencies. The larger danger is that Mr. Romney’s conversions are not motivated by expediency or mere pandering but may represent his real governing philosophy. [Emphasis mine]Mitt doesn’t care much for the great state of Texas or Houston as on one visit to the city he said, “This is what happens when you don’t have zoning.”He is a believer in global warming and supports Cap and Trade if it is done globally as opposed to just nationally.Mitt helped raise money for Planned Parenthood.Romney changed his rhetoric on Gay Rights after having made overtures toward the Log Cabin Republicans in exchange for their endorsement. They were none too pleased.Proof that Romney is both a true politician and a bothersome oaf comes beautifully packaged in his succinct yet immature usage of the English language on Gun Control. “Weapons of unusual lethality?” Really?Romney picked more Democrats than Republicans when the time came to pick judicial nominees.

This will obviously be different when the time comes to pick Supreme Court Nominees, of course.Sen. Scott Brown supports Romney’s defense of RomneyCare calling it “courageous.”Here is Mitt on the issues at OntheIssues.org.Romney on the Contract with AmericaThe Important segments from Romney’s Debate with Ted Kennedy, with one of the best endings to a debate.And we did all of that with only mentioning RomneyCare once. Now many folks get all caught up in the whole healthcare aspect of the Constitutionality of mandating buying and selling, which started that whole Revolutionary War thingy.

Be that as it may, a much more devastating critique of the program falls from the lips of the State of Massachusetts Treasurer, Timothy P. Cahill. He says:As state treasurer, I can speak with authority about the Massachusetts pilot program. It has been a fiscal train wreck.The universal insurance coverage we adopted in 2006 was projected to cost taxpayers $88 million a year. However, since this program was adopted in 2006, our health-care costs have in total exceeded $4 billion. The cost of Massachusetts’ plan has blown a hole in the Commonwealth’s budget.

Just last Thursday, Gov. Deval Patrick’s office announced a $294 million shortfall related to health-care costs.

If not for federal Medicaid reimbursements and commitments from Washington to prop up this plan, Massachusetts would be broke. The only reason MassCare has survived is that we have been repeatedly bailed out by the federal government.This will be the nail in the coffin for the Romney Presidential bid. Romney’s failure to properly plan and prepare his state for the costs associated with government intrusion into the healthcare market is proof that he does not have the adequte executive competence to command the office of the President of the United States

http://www.rinolist.org/2011/06/rinomittromney/

Guy's as big a lying sack of fraud as any other shyster trying to run the country.

Straight Shooter

2012-07-05, 21:48

Shame on you Mittens:nono:

pete rose

2012-07-05, 22:28

How else are we going to dispose of those little would-be's?

Bloodshot Scott

2012-07-06, 01:54

He will say/do anything to get elected.

ySBQ2GHLHBs

bobjustbob

2012-07-06, 04:05

Still messing up his thread? :facepalm: I do not answer trolls.
Sam or anyone could give you mountains of information. You would just laugh it off after not even looking at it.

Sam ran you off once. Maybe it is time for him to do it once again? :tongue:

Will, let's face it, there is no one on the right with the answers. The direction of the left is wrong but nothing is coming out on the right as far as ideas. All of the polls say congress is broken and the right can't put candidates up with a plan to take it back. The past 8 years of elections have shown that they have nothing to offer. I wish they could give me something to hang my hat on but it just ain't there. Ideas are not enough. There needs to be a plan and we don't have one. The political machine on the right has no gears to oil.

BobJustBob.

Will E Worm

2012-07-06, 14:44

That's why we need a Third Party that has the answers. Bobby. ;)

PirateKing

2012-07-06, 19:55

I agree. All they do is troll.

They need to learn to agree to disagree and ignore people.
Finding another site that is more to their character would be great as well.
They were just imitating you to a T. You didn't even acknowledge that by the way, shame on you.

Will E Worm

2012-07-07, 00:14

They were just imitating you to a T. You didn't even acknowledge that by the way, shame on you.